Super 8

The latest from J J Abrahams is an homage to classic Spielberg, it is a modern day fusion of Jaw's, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and in its lead characters relationship The Goonies. At its heart like some of Spielbergs more classic films its about oridnary people coming to terms with life events and at the same time being plunged into extraidonary events.
      Super 8 at its heart is about the personal relationship between a father and son coming to terms with the death of a wife and mother. Its about the bond between the son and his friends who in their free time make Super 8 movies and its about a train crash and the strange events that occur around the community post crash.
     This is a film where the villains are not the most obvious. It captures a particular period of magic but with very modern effects which in some ways loses that Spielbergian spark. But really that doesnt matter taken on its own terms Super 8 is a great movie in the same way Goonies is a great but flawed fun ride. Super 8 delivers but its ending is a tad rushed and it feels in one or two moments like two movies competing against each other.
    This film has that old school feel and vibe to it, the music almost John Williams at his best, with its whismsical charm with an undercurrent of menace. A love child between his Close Encounters score and ET, but this is also a darker tale in the Jaws sense. Interspersed with moments of mystery box menace as in Close Encounters.

    I enjoyed the film for what it was a JJ Abrahams film, with great charaters, an air of menace its close but for me the ending was just a little off and this very much felt like two films fused at the join   This is a must see movie, but  expect a small intimate character driven movie and not a big event blockbuster. On the basis of this films young stars it can only be a matter of time before JJ delivers an oscar worthywinner.